From: Mihran ToumajanStory: ARMENIAN COMMUNITY HONORS JEWISH WORLD WATCH

Once Again, Armenian and Jewish Communities Come Together to Recognize Kinship of Suffering

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 9, 2008) - Last year, in an historic demonstration of support by a Jewish organization, Jewish World Watch hosted a Jewish Armenian Shabbat Dinner and Service to observe the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The goal of the event was to bring the two communities together in recognition of their mutual experience of genocide, and, in doing so, have the Jewish community acknowledge and commemorate the heretofore unacknowledged genocide of the Armenian people in 1915. It was the first time the Armenian and Jewish communities had blended their two cultures to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.

On Thursday evening, May 15, 2008 the two communities will come together again when the Burbank-based Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America honors Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, Founder of Jewish World Watch. Specifically, the two communities will join hand-in-hand to recognize their kinship of suffering and comfort.

Humanity is subject to genocide and amnesia is dangerous, said Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, Founder, Jewish World Watch.  If you forget or deny the first genocide of the 20th Century, you waste the experience of the past. Our experience with the Jewish Holocaust makes it a matter of conscience for the Jewish people to respond and recognize the grief and anguish of others. It is incumbent upon us to stand up and recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915.

WHO:
Rabbi Harold S. Schulweis, Founder, Jewish World Watch His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America Tzivia Schwartz-Getzug, Executive Director, Jewish World Watch St. Peter Armenian Apostolic Church Choir Valley Beth Shalom Choir Traditional Armenian and Israeli dancing by the Vartan & Siranoush Gevorkian Dance Ensemble and the Keshet Chaim Dance Ensemble

WHEN: Thursday, May 15, 2008
6:30 PM Press Availability, 7:30 PM Event

WHERE:
Sima & Nazareth Kalaydjian Hall
Arshag & Eleanor Dickranian Complex
Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America
3325 North Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91504

WHY: This event embodies the commitment of these two communities to acknowledge and commemorate past genocides, and the Armenian genocide, in particular, which has been denied by successive Turkish governments for nearly a century.

Jewish World Watch is a coalition of almost 60 synagogues working together to mobilize synagogues, their schools, members, and the community to combat genocide and other egregious violations of human rights around the world. In response to the 400,000 civilians that have been murdered and the nearly 2.5 million people who have been displaced in the Sudan, Jewish World Watch chose Darfur as its first advocacy campaign. Since its inception, these synagogues have actively mobilized to stop the genocide in Darfur, and have allocated more than $600,000 in direct assistance to the people in Darfur.

Established in 1927, the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of North America, based in Burbank, California spans the Western United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. With the faithful of the Western Diocese constantly growing and establishing new communities, the Diocese is ever expanding its parishes and the scope of its various missions.